Students Should Continue to Work During the Summer

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As mid-June nears, the light at the end of the tunnel gets brighter and brighter. The depleted, aching pupil has successfully trekked through Hell and back. Reaching for rescue, they arrive at the Light.

Toeing the entrance into Nirvana, only the final exam stands in the way. Our hero spars with the exam, eventually reaching its end. Hands trembling and heart pumping, the pupil bubbles in the answer to the final question. They slam the pencil down on the table like a sword thrust into a dragon’s belly. The handcuffs fall from the pupil’s wrist. The left ankle’s ball and chain release their death grip, then the right’s. It is over. It is all over. Freedom!

Wait, it’s not? Well, it should not be. This Nirvana students seek is really only a mirage. Just because school is out does not mean school work is done. Summer is the perfect time to pursue interesting internships, fatten your pockets with a summer job or study for a key standardized test, whether it be the SAT, ACT or an SAT II (subject test).

In Aesop’s legendary fable “The Tortoise and the Hare,” the hare runs very fast and then relaxes under a tree, choosing to do nothing because he believes his work is complete. He then loses the race. This is the equivalent of grinding during the school year and pushing it to the limit, only to relax during the summer. Aesop had it right: taking this approach will cause you to lose in the long run.

Sophomore Asa Hemenway does not relate to the hare, choosing instead to work toward his goal of one day becoming a podiatrist by studying the anatomy of the human foot in the summer.

“Summer is the perfect time to pursue academic interests that you maybe did not have time for during the school year,” Hemenway said.

Motivation is key for students to have in the summer, as it can be the difference between continuing their hard work or slowing down their pace during the dog days.

Math teacher Mark Bradley believes summer grants students enough time to both relax and continue improving themselves in various ways for the future.

“Students have time to do lots of things in the summer. There’s definitely time to decompress, but students should also spend time gearing up for what they want to do in the future. Getting a job or internship, as well as simply working harder to get better at a specific school subject are all great uses of a student’s summertime,” Bradley said.

If your goal is to be the absolute best student, test-taker or athlete you can be, taking two months off from your craft is simply begging to be trampled by the competition.

Some students choose to take the risk of becoming roadkill, and relax throughout the summer. Sophomore Teddy Andrew is not sweating his future, preferring to kick up his feet come June 17. “College, college, college. That’s all I ever hear about. I just want to chill,” Andrew said.

However, students who choose to kick back had better enjoy their time in the incubator, because soon they will be exposed to the real world. If you are not preparing for college and life beyond, then it is time to get out from under that tree.

There is definitely time to slack. Spending time with friends and family is very important. However, is it really necessary to take three naps per day, every day?

Wake up, kid. The future is coming, and like the tortoise, it does not stop for any slackers.